diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/DispatchRateLimiter.java b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/DispatchRateLimiter.java
index 6addacf97ddfa..a3333cd4d4f8b 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/DispatchRateLimiter.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/persistent/DispatchRateLimiter.java
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ public synchronized void updateDispatchRate(DispatchRate dispatchRate) {
         if (msgRate > 0) {
             if (this.dispatchRateLimiterOnMessage == null) {
                 this.dispatchRateLimiterOnMessage = new RateLimiter(brokerService.pulsar().getExecutor(), msgRate,
-                        ratePeriod, TimeUnit.SECONDS, permitUpdaterMsg);
+                        ratePeriod, TimeUnit.SECONDS, permitUpdaterMsg, true);
             } else {
                 this.dispatchRateLimiterOnMessage.setRate(msgRate, dispatchRate.ratePeriodInSecond,
                         TimeUnit.SECONDS, permitUpdaterMsg);
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ public synchronized void updateDispatchRate(DispatchRate dispatchRate) {
         if (byteRate > 0) {
             if (this.dispatchRateLimiterOnByte == null) {
                 this.dispatchRateLimiterOnByte = new RateLimiter(brokerService.pulsar().getExecutor(), byteRate,
-                        ratePeriod, TimeUnit.SECONDS, permitUpdaterByte);
+                        ratePeriod, TimeUnit.SECONDS, permitUpdaterByte, true);
             } else {
                 this.dispatchRateLimiterOnByte.setRate(byteRate, dispatchRate.ratePeriodInSecond,
                         TimeUnit.SECONDS, permitUpdaterByte);
diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/api/SubscriptionMessageDispatchThrottlingTest.java b/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/api/SubscriptionMessageDispatchThrottlingTest.java
index f6c563dcb9e76..8a7e067bea246 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/api/SubscriptionMessageDispatchThrottlingTest.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/client/api/SubscriptionMessageDispatchThrottlingTest.java
@@ -211,8 +211,8 @@ public void testMessageRateLimitingReceiveAllMessagesAfterThrottling(Subscriptio
      * verify rate-limiting should throttle message-dispatching based on byte-rate
      *
      * <pre>
-     *  1. dispatch-byte-rate = 100 bytes/sec
-     *  2. send 30 msgs : each with 10 byte
+     *  1. dispatch-byte-rate = 1000 bytes/sec
+     *  2. send 30 msgs : each with 100 byte
      *  3. it should take up to 2 second to receive all messages
      * </pre>
      *
@@ -227,7 +227,7 @@ public void testBytesRateLimitingReceiveAllMessagesAfterThrottling(SubscriptionT
         final String topicName = BrokerTestUtil.newUniqueName("persistent://" + namespace + "/throttlingAll");
         final String subName = "my-subscriber-name-" + subscription;
 
-        final int byteRate = 100;
+        final int byteRate = 1000;
         DispatchRate dispatchRate = new DispatchRate(-1, byteRate, 1);
         admin.namespaces().createNamespace(namespace, Sets.newHashSet("test"));
         admin.namespaces().setSubscriptionDispatchRate(namespace, dispatchRate);
diff --git a/pulsar-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/RateLimiter.java b/pulsar-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/RateLimiter.java
index 6a8afd2bc1036..bd31853062774 100644
--- a/pulsar-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/RateLimiter.java
+++ b/pulsar-common/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/RateLimiter.java
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ public class RateLimiter implements AutoCloseable{
     // permitUpdate helps to update permit-rate at runtime
     private Supplier<Long> permitUpdater;
     private RateLimitFunction rateLimitFunction;
+    private boolean isDispatchRateLimiter;
 
     public RateLimiter(final long permits, final long rateTime, final TimeUnit timeUnit) {
         this(null, permits, rateTime, timeUnit, null);
@@ -72,7 +73,12 @@ public RateLimiter(final long permits, final long rateTime, final TimeUnit timeU
     }
 
     public RateLimiter(final ScheduledExecutorService service, final long permits, final long rateTime,
-            final TimeUnit timeUnit, Supplier<Long> permitUpdater) {
+                       final TimeUnit timeUnit, Supplier<Long> permitUpdater) {
+        this(service, permits, rateTime, timeUnit, permitUpdater, false);
+    }
+
+    public RateLimiter(final ScheduledExecutorService service, final long permits, final long rateTime,
+            final TimeUnit timeUnit, Supplier<Long> permitUpdater, boolean isDispatchRateLimiter) {
         checkArgument(permits > 0, "rate must be > 0");
         checkArgument(rateTime > 0, "Renew permit time must be > 0");
 
@@ -80,6 +86,7 @@ public RateLimiter(final ScheduledExecutorService service, final long permits, f
         this.timeUnit = timeUnit;
         this.permits = permits;
         this.permitUpdater = permitUpdater;
+        this.isDispatchRateLimiter = isDispatchRateLimiter;
 
         if (service != null) {
             this.executorService = service;
@@ -172,15 +179,22 @@ public synchronized boolean tryAcquire(long acquirePermit) {
             renewTask = createTask();
         }
 
-        // acquired-permits can't be larger than the rate
-        if (acquirePermit > this.permits) {
-            acquiredPermits = this.permits;
-            return false;
-        }
         boolean canAcquire = acquirePermit < 0 || acquiredPermits < this.permits;
-        if (canAcquire) {
+        if (isDispatchRateLimiter) {
+            // for dispatch rate limiter just add acquirePermit
             acquiredPermits += acquirePermit;
+        } else {
+            // acquired-permits can't be larger than the rate
+            if (acquirePermit > this.permits) {
+                acquiredPermits = this.permits;
+                return false;
+            }
+
+            if (canAcquire) {
+                acquiredPermits += acquirePermit;
+            }
         }
+
         return canAcquire;
     }
 
@@ -243,7 +257,7 @@ protected ScheduledFuture<?> createTask() {
     }
 
     synchronized void renew() {
-        acquiredPermits = 0;
+        acquiredPermits = isDispatchRateLimiter ? Math.max(0, acquiredPermits - permits) : 0;
         if (permitUpdater != null) {
             long newPermitRate = permitUpdater.get();
             if (newPermitRate > 0) {
diff --git a/pulsar-common/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/RateLimiterTest.java b/pulsar-common/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/RateLimiterTest.java
index 891609dbee7cb..61336f4210b8b 100644
--- a/pulsar-common/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/RateLimiterTest.java
+++ b/pulsar-common/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/common/util/RateLimiterTest.java
@@ -164,6 +164,27 @@ public void testResetRate() throws Exception {
         rate.close();
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testDispatchRate() throws Exception {
+        final long rateTimeMSec = 1000;
+        final int permits = 100;
+        RateLimiter rate = new RateLimiter(null, permits, rateTimeMSec, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS, null, true);
+        rate.tryAcquire(100);
+        rate.tryAcquire(100);
+        rate.tryAcquire(100);
+        assertEquals(rate.getAvailablePermits(), 0);
+
+        Thread.sleep(rateTimeMSec * 2);
+        // check after two rate-time: acquiredPermits is 100
+        assertEquals(rate.getAvailablePermits(), 0);
+
+        Thread.sleep(rateTimeMSec);
+        // check after three rate-time: acquiredPermits is 0
+        assertEquals(rate.getAvailablePermits() > 0, true);
+
+        rate.close();
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testRateLimiterWithPermitUpdater() throws Exception {
         long permits = 10;